Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1887-04-23

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init this freely ought to have gone d.
rectly to you and informed you of my dis
covery. In not doing this I committed .
great error of judgment. as we'll as a breach
Of duty. For 1 should have considere l that.
when the absence Of the checks was discov-
cred, 1t would be remembered that thore
were only two persons-not counting the Of
e Q boy-who had access to your office.
These were Norah and myself. One Of US
must have taken them"
why, no." said Mr.. Murridge. "For It
cannot be proved that no one came into this
office except you two. There Is the office
boy; there is the housekeeper; there are any
number Of people whom the housekeeper
may have admitted on the Sunday or in the
evening; there Is nothing to prove when I
left my check book lying about. 1t might
have been lying on the table all night, or
from Saturday until Monday. l cannot ad-
nit that the thing lies between you and
Norah Cronan"
Very well, sir; l am glad you think that
it may lie outside us That, however. was
how put it to myself. l confess"
you ought to have told me at onca
You find my check book with six checks
torn out, and you did not tell me. Were Won
mad~
perhaps; but remember that l only saw
leaves, or what seemed to be leaves. torn
out n folded up. 1t was not till after
ward, l repeat, that l suspected Norah Of
stealing checks. 1t was not till you told mo
of your loss that l really connected her with
those checks"
"You ought to nave told mo directly you
heard of the loss"
IL comic 8 again that l ought to have told
you. Well. l did not. That is all l can
say. First, l had passed my word to Norah
that l would not mention her visit. Next, I
was confused and bewildered on her ac-
count. and then was afraid Of you.'
"Oh, afraid Of mev
Eyes, afraid Of you. Norah has been your
~favorite always. You give her the confden-
tial work, and mo the office drudgery. I
thought you would not believe me. Perhaps
l hoped that she would get of altogether.
But when you placed the whole case in my
hands, the first thing that forced itself upon
me was that the forgery must have been
committed by means Of these very missing
checks"
well, the numbers prove that"
$50 that nothing was left to me but to con-
Tess what | knew, and to follow up that fact
as a clew."
Dick sighed heavily.
Il wish the task had been intrusted to
another M IN. First l thought of going to
CaIista and telling her everything. But
Norah is her sister, so that it seemed best
TO tell yon all myself. Perhaps Calista may
DO spared tho pain of ever learning this
dreadful thing. AS for tho actual forger, 1
cannot yet speak. But l have proofs as to
tho presentation of two checks out of the
five"
"Proofsf Nothing but tho ~clearest proofs
will -atlsfy mel"
you shall DO satisfied, then. What do
you think of this for ono proof The girl
described by tho bank clerk us having pre-
sentcd one of tho checks was NOruh herself.
For proof send FOR ths clerk whom she Is
here. He will bc ablo to identify her, l
dare say. That is my first proof. Now for
the second: Tho young gentleman who pro-
sented aud casned the check last Thursday
at ono o'clock was no other than ler brother,
young IIyacinth Cronan-Dnifolil. He
must have gone to tho bank Just before one
o'clock, because he came hero n few minutes
after one, and we went out to dinner together.
We went to Crosby Hall and sat there till two.
Tho clerk, you know, gave ono o'clock rs tho
hour. have no doubt but no will identify
Daffodil rs well. 1t will be perfectly easy"
them"
by tho actual forgcrs Worry possible.
But in this case unlikely. Because who
would do it for theml'
Go on" The case was getting blacker.
A regards the character of mean
Hyacinth-for s%tcadinoss, l am afraid wo
cannot say much. Hc is, as you know per-
haps, ut University College hospital, and he
belongs to n fast set. They play billiards,
smoke together, ave parties in each others
rooms, and go to theatres and music halls
all this was strictly true, and yet-poor
Daffodil!-"worso still, he goes to u gaming
den. 1t Is a place open every evening for
playing baccarat and every kind Of gam
bling game | dare say. when they do moth
ing else they play pitch and toss. l remcm-
bered your recommendation to uso every
means in order to find out tho truth, and 1
went with him. We went twice last week. /"
This also, as we know, was literally true.
u have also learned that ho is in money
difficulties" DaTodil had shown Dick
n letter from his tailor intirnating that
something on account would be desirable.
altogether, l think my theory will prove
right-Norah took the checks with a view TO
help her brother. OF course she knows worry
well your custom Of drawing twelve pound
checks for private purposes. Therefore she
tlled these up for that amount, confident
that they would then pass without suspicion,
ana might even escape your notice. She
initiated your signature; and she gave them
every one to her brother, except that which
she cashcd herself, presumably also for him.
l am quite sure she did it for her brother.
Whether no knows how she got tho checks,
whether he stand in with her. l cannot tell.
That will he seen when he is confronted with
the bank clerk, and charged with presenting
the check. You will judge by what he re-
plies to tho charge"
HAS the girl a loverT
"She has been engaged for the last week
or SO only"
who is the manY'
II name is Hugh Aquila. He Is resi-
dent medical officer at the Children's Hos
pital. | was at school with him. But you
need not inquire about him. He has got
nothing to do with It,"
How do you know thatr'
Because bis mother has money. Mime.
Aquila was a professional singer, who made
money and retired from the profession.
Besides, he thinks about nothing but his
work. lie has as much money as he wants.,
and he never was in debt or any trouble.
Why should he stand inp'
h is not a man who bets and gamblesr'
Not at ALL"
"Humph. Give me the paper. There's a
nest of villainy somewhere about the place.
Dick folded it neatly, and handed 1t over
with the air Of the undertakers man hand
ing the gloves at q funeral.
"Of course you are prepared to swear to
this statementT'
Certainly" This with perfectly steady
eyes.
"Of course I trust 1t will not be nece,-
sary."